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Gardeners' Notes:

Seed collection takes some expertise. This is from a fact sheet produced by The University of Kentucky:
Spigelia mariclandica seed is found in a two-sided capsule. The seeds are grouped into small balls of 4-7 seeds that separate readily. The capsules ripen from July 1 through July 15 in the UKREC Botanic Garden. . Unfortunately, within one or two days the seed will “explosively dehisce” (Darke, 2002) and be lost to the seed collector. The capsule will be black on the top and black-green on the bottom just before this happens; seed capsules collected at this time will split open ejecting the seed into the bag shortly after removal from the plant. Seed collection requires daily observation. It is recommended that seed be sown immediately after collection to ensure high percentage germination (Cullina, 2000; Glick 2002). Two year old seedlings will bloom. Barry Glick (2002) states deer don’t browse Spigelia marilandica but our experience trying to collect seed in the wild would indicate that deer or some other creature does eat the flowers and stem down to the foliage in a similar fashion to deer feeding observed on Trillium recurvatum in west Kentucky.

Easy, showy. A superb perennial, not grown nearly as often as it deserves.

To what everyone else has written, I only want to add that there's a form in cultivation in which the yellow tips to the flowers are a chartreuse yellow-green, which I think is even more beautiful than the usual.

I have one of these in full sun & one in partial shade & the one in full sun has become one of the most stunning, the most prolific flowering clumps that I have ever seen. It has grown thicker & has more flowers each year, & I've had it for about four years now.

The yellow & red flowers have become more brilliant in color with each year. It loves water & responds to being a well drained , but consistently watered site. I couldn't find anything negative to say about this plant if I tried.

It's a beautiful plant, and it seems to be tolerant of a wide range of sites. Mine (in Maryland) is in full sun with a soil that is mostly clay, but it seems to be quite happy. The heat hasn't bothered it, and I've just got a rebloom in late August. Quite nice.

This plant was the hit for the tour of the gardens this year! Plants in both gardens were fin full bloom. A striking carefree plant, none of guests could identify and my favorite boast, it is native! Visually appealing, tolerates heavy soil and a hummingbird attractant! We are adding a greenhouse, so weedsforwildlife.com will be propagating this for next season.

I received this plant from a friend last spring (2009) and it bloomed beautifully in a small container. It did die back to the rootball in winter and I took it inside to overwinter.
It reared its pretty little stalks come spring and I moved the container outside. I did notice it struggling in the full sun despite the fact that I watered it every day. I had planned to move it to my butterfly/hbird raised bed this summer but have instead left it in its container and placed it under the shade of a palm tree on my deck.
I planted a lilac tree in the center of my raised bed and will wait until it reaches a height so as to provide some shade before moving my pink.
As for beauty....the vibrant red contrasts with the deep yellow as its blooms stack upon the stalk much like a gladiola. I usually deadhead before the seed pods form but if it blooms for me again this year I will try to capture the pods.

This is our second year growing Indian pink in Tallahassee (zone 8b). It's in a bed of dappled light under oak trees, with morning sun and afternoon shade. We were afraid this winter's many freezing nights had killed it, but it came back better than ever and spread nicely. Gorgeous blooms this year for close to a month in late April/early May. A real keeper!

There was only one Indian Pink growing on our farm and I'd never seen any others in the area. When we sold the farm, I dug it up and moved it with me, then dug is up when we moved again. That first plant is still living 14 years later. It and its offspring now form a sea of red/yellow each June in the shade bed underneath a Bradford pear. Even after they bloom, they're pretty all the way until frost. Each year I catch a few seeds before they explode and just poke them in the ground. They come up the next year but never get more than six inches tall. Come the following year, though, they take off and never slow down, getting bigger and bigger each year. An excellent choice for any shade bed.

Editing to mention that I have several with a varigated leaf...green and silver. Never noticed this until last year. I planted several seeds from these plant hoping for more with similar leaf coloration.

These attractive plants grow wild on our property in southcentral Arkansas. We have successfully moved them away from trafficked areas. White-tailed deer love them. Any suggestions on seed propagation (e.g., cold-soaking)?

I was skeptical when I bought this plant in bloom in the summer of 2008. It had a tropical look to it and I was not sure it would make it through the winter in my zone 6a garden.
I never watered it after the first two weeks, and I was surprised when it came back in the spring. It is a very easy plant to grow in semi shade, no bugs bother it and best of all, deer leave it alone!

I live in zone 8 in central Texas and the Indian Pinks have done very well here. I have them planted in dappled shade around a fountain under pecan trees and they are a mass of blooms in the spring and early summer. I highly recommend them.

This is a lovely plant that blooms twice for me. First in June and again in August. One interesting note, however, I bought it for a light shade area that met all of the plant's criteria, but it was very unhappy. I moved it to a dry, full sun area of my yard and it's been amazingly happy there.
*2007 Follow up - I was diligent this year about dead-heading the plant and it bloomed all summer/fall long!

I have this plant growing in full sun. This is the second year for it and it is lovely. It has travelled to the other end of the garden and is blooming there also. I will try to divide it and move some of it to another garden.

This is an excellent plant for shady areas or those that get dappled sunlight. I grow it down here in a very naturally mulched wet sort of boggy area.

I have dig up divisions and tranplanted them to other shady areas to colonize this wildflower. After transplanting I watered several times a day and had prepared the ground with high organic matter. They love leaf mulch!

The plants will look like they want to die back for about two weeks after transplanting, but give them plenty of water and they will perk right back up.

I place panyhose around the seed pods to catch them. They are tiny green balls that turn to black when ripe. If you bring in the black ripened seeds pods to open, make sure you keep them in the panyhose or place in a container with a lid. When the seed pods open they explode and make a sound like snapping firecrackers and the seed will disperse all over the place.

This native perennial is one of my favorite shade plant. I have heard people call it the lipstick plant here and I can understand why by looking at the beautiful bloom. The foliage is bright green and shiny. Clump forming.

A wonderful shade loving plant. There's really not too much you can't say about this plant, nice foliage, striking yellow and red blooms, in a nice cluster and last but not least, a great cut flower for the dinner table, throw in some coreopsis and white penstimmon and you've got it made!

Fabulous perineal for the woodland shade garden. Pinch back faded blooms for a second show 3 to 4 weeks later. Seed and cuttings are slow. Sow seeds outside in fall covered to their depth in medium. I use a flat with a glass pane over it to keep out critters. If the leaves start to look yellow, add lime to the soil. Likes the dappled light of a forest.